The beautiful Peace River Valley is under threat. Come learn about the consequences of the Site C project and hear first hand from some of the people most directly impacted by the project. If you care about climate change, food security, indigenous rights and wilderness areas, or are curious about energy demands in the province, this is a must attend event.

Our province is full of beautiful places, but there are few places with both the spectacular beauty and the ecological importance to match the Peace River Valley.

Nestled in the northeast corner of British Columbia, the Peace River flows from the Rocky Mountains towards the Arctic Ocean. The valley is home to Treaty 8 First Nations’ hunting, fishing, and trapping grounds, fertile agricultural lands and farms, old-growth boreal forests, and is one of the most important wildlife corridors in the Yellowstone to Yukon migration corridor chain.

In an area already fractured by oil and gas development, and on a river already choked by two existing dams, the government of BC wants to build the $8 billion Site C Dam. The proposed 60 meter high Site C mega-dam would flood over 100 kilometres of river valley, drowning a land area equal to 14 Stanley Parks, and causing landslides as the banks of the reservoir erode over time.

The cost of the proposed Site C Dam continues to skyrocket and it’s going to hit the pocketbooks of all BC citizens. In 2006, the estimated cost of the 60 metre high dam was less than $3 billion. In 2008, the cost jumped to $6.6 billion. Currently, BC Hydro’s revised estimate for the mega-hydro project is almost $8 billion. This astronomical amount, in addition to a budgeted $6 billion dollars for maintenance on existing dams, is bound to increase residential rates well over BC Hydro’s estimate of 50% in the next 5 years.

Thank you to Council of Senior Citizens Organizations of BC’s Sunshine Coast Chapter and the Sunshine Coast Conservation Association for partnering with us on this stop on the tour.